Ho Chi Minh, the man who brought Communism to Vietnam, kicked out the French, and liberated the country. Sounds about right, too bad it’s mostly wrong. I hope that by now, the positions that I have taken against Ho Chi Minh and Communism has become clear. All the crimes committed by the Communists over the last 35 years, even up to present day, should paint a clear picture of what Ho Chi Minh has done to Vietnam. The system created by Ho Chi Minh is autocratic, corrupted, and totalitarian. Using ingenious methods of deception, Ho Chi Minh would lead the world on to think that he was a patriot, fighting with his heart and soul for the good of the nation.

Ho Chi Minh was a dictatorial, megalomaniacal, and extremely cunning man. Behind that fatherly smile was a diabolical mind that was capable of deceiving the entire world, leading us to believe that he had the country’s interest in mind. Ho Chi Minh claimed to live his life with only one goal in his mind: liberating the Vietnamese people from the grips of the French. Apparently his one and only ambition in life was to free the country and lead it to prosperity. Whether or not he meant it in the beginning is debatable, but the horrifying outcomes of his actions later on are absolutely undeniable.

The Viet Minh and the “Democratic” Republic of Vietnam

When he returned to Vietnam in 1945, he became the leader of the Viet Minh, a revolutionary organization that was determined to terminate the French invaders. Despite what certain researchers claim, the Viet Minh was not a Communist organization. In reality, they were a coalition of the many revolutionary groups at the time, joining forces to defeat the French. They were freedom fighters who fought in the name of Vietnam, not Marxism-Leninism. However, many of the leaders in the Viet Minh were slowly purged by Ho Chi Minh, elevating him to the top position. When they defeated the French at Dien Binh Phu in 1954, it was Ho Chi Minh who received all the glory. It was by now that the Viet Minh were dominated by pro-Leninist leaders.

In this, Ho Chi Minh established the foundations for his Communist movement, though the west couldn’t understand it at the time. Under Ho Chi Minh, the northern half of Vietnam was under the rule of the Communists, while the South was under the rule of Ngo Dinh Diem and the republicans/democrats. However, North Vietnam was not called the “Socialist” Republic of Vietnam as it is known today. Ho Chi Minh used a different name, one more easy on the ears of Americans: the “Democratic” Republic of Vietnam. In selecting this name, he gave the impression of a democratic society, though one will find out, his regime will be far from democratic. Nonetheless, this strategic move, with many others, will give him an sharp edge in the eyes of the world.

The Viet Cong, The National Liberation Front, and the Labor Party

Throughout his entire rule, Ho Chi Minh labeled his forces the protectors of Vietnam, attacking the South on the pretext of “liberating our southern brothers from the American invaders.” Instead of the name Communist Party, Ho Chi Minh named his group the Labor Party, looking to gain support from the working population. This worked quite well, not only for the people inside Vietnam, but also to the observers from outside the country.

Besides the People’s Army in the north, Ho Chi Minh created another military force in the south, cleverly labeled as the “National Liberation Front (NLF).” In creating this alternate force, Ho Chi Minh wanted to simulate the illusion of rebellion and revolt in the south. Ho’s plan was to make the world think that Vietnam had two separate groups who fought for the same cause, defeating the Republic of Vietnam. In reality, the NLF (aka Vietcong) were directly under Ho Chi Minh’s command and was not a separate entity in the war.

The Mind of Modern Vietnam’s Greatest Villain

As you can see, Ho Chi Minh was a political genius who fooled the world into supporting his cause. Through propaganda, terror, and betrayals of his many allies, Ho Chi Minh formed the Communist movement in Vietnam, putting himself at the top of the pyramid. He incited the patriotism of his soldiers, tricking them into thinking that what they were doing was best for Vietnam. He used the entrance of the Americans to trash South Vietnam, calling them tools of foreign imperialism, and created anger and hatred in the hearts of his soldiers.

Many of his policies during the war were cruel and atrocious. The land reform programs resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Vietnamese civilians in the north. His murderous policies in treating southern civilians was also disturbing and destructive. One such example was the Hue Massacre in 1968. His soldiers captured the city of central Vietnam, brutally murdering thousands of defenseless people, simply because they lived under the government of South Vietnam.

Sympathy From the West

Even while he was committing these evil deeds, Ho Chi Minh was able to cultivate a positive image in the eyes of the world. Throughout the 1960’s, many people in the west bought into his propaganda, protested the South, and praised the North. They didn’t know of his brutal massacres or his selfish intentions. They only saw what was on the surface, an elderly smile of a charming old man, backed by thousands upon thousands of biased media outlets. The “experts” in America believed that he was a saint, comparing him to real heroes such as Gandhi, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. Judging by the evidence of all the Communists’ crimes, whoever made these comparisons should feel really stupid now.

Ho Chi Minh was such a devious man, successfully fooling the people of Vietnam and the international community. There were several who saw past his lies, but the majority got caught up in the show, blindly jumping on the Ho Chi Minh band-wagon. Today, the evidence of his cruelty has been verified. He created a system where killing and stealing reigned supreme. His offspring, the likes of Nong Duc Manh, Nguyen Tan Dung, and Nguyen Minh Triet occupy the Communist Party today, selling land to the Chinese and stealing money from the common folk. It is clear that Ho Chi Minh has deceived us all. His legacy has been stained with the blood of his own people. The sad state of the Vietnam today is the direct consequence of his actions in the past. Some idiots may still call him “Uncle Ho,” but I just call him a dirty old bastard.